What are the best stocks to invest in right now (for a beginner)?

None. Get seeds and food.

Peter Lynch said buy stocks of the companies that make stuff you really like. Also consumer goods companies, oil companies and construction companies always treated me well.
(I think I got Lynch’s name wrong)

Ask yourself why Google and Apple seem like “huge risks”. Yes, they are expensive, but that’s not what determines risk. What makes you think that Panera and Caterpillar are not risky? After all, Panera is not an anchor store at any of the malls where they (often) exist, so if the economy continues to tank and people avoid malls and retail shopping in general, then what’s going to drive them to eat out at Panera?

What kind of investor do you intend to be, a “value” investor who buys stocks of companies that you believe are underpriced by the market, and waiting for the rest of the market to wise up to their proper valuations? Or will you be a “momentum” investor, buying on chart formations, breakout pricing and popularity?

If you ever get the urge to be a “conscientious” investor and invest in “green” or “social justice” or any other such idiocy, then you should save yourself the trouble and simply give away your money.

Ok for starters, Google and Apple are not risks, at all. In fact they are some of the safest bets on the market. Pretty much anything in the DOW 30 (CAT is also a member of the DOW) is a safe bet to not lose your money (I think only 2 have gone under in like the last 50 years). Where they become not good choices is they also aren’t going to drastically increase your money. Think of it like this, if a company made 50 dollars last year and another company made 5 billion dollars last year, which one is more likely to double its income in the coming year?

What you should do is look for middle-market cap companies. These are companies that are “bigger” but not huge like Wal-Mart or what have you. For example, GE has a market cap of 171 billion dollars, while something like First Solar has a market cap of 8.4 billion. Middle-market cap companies are a lot less likely than small cap companies to go under (whether its go under in the next month or the next decade). They’re not as secure a bet as a huge company, but they’re also a lot more likely to increase their annual income.

You should also stick to areas you know. My portfolio has a pair of drug manufacturers, First Solar (the largest solar panel maker in the world), and Intel. I’m an analytical chemist and studied a lot of energy and drug related stuff in college, so its “my field” I’m familiar with it. When I read the news about First Solar or Abbott labs, I can at least somewhat comprehend what they’re talking about and whether or not its good or bad news. I wouldn’t invest in CAT (caterpillar) because I have no clue whatsoever about the construction equipment industry.

Right now is a perfect time to invest if you have money, because the market is out taking a sh*t. Everything is down, so it’s just a matter of making a smart decision and not putting money into a company that will fail. I’m assuming you’re not putting this money in for short term gain, so don’t do what bad investors do and pull your money out the second you hit a big increase in value or the second a bad news headline drops your portfolio 10%. Ups and downs happen in the market (especially one dominated by the scum of the Earth, Day traders). If you trust the company you’ve invested in to stay afloat and do well, why on Earth would you pull your money out because of a small drop.

I bought my stock in First solar for an average value of about $130 a stock. Right now its trading at $90. So what am I going to do? I’m getting ready to buy as much more stock of it as I can afford. Because I am confident that First Solar will continue to be the leading solar panel producer, and 5 years from now when the market thins out and solar power picks up steam cuz oil is up again… I’ll have a ton of stock that I bought for dirt cheap prices.

Beginners should not invest in individual stocks. Look into index funds.

Low cost diverse index funds.

The first thing you need to know is that nobody can answer that for you, honestly, because if they did know they would be very, very wealthy. It is a best guessing game. Many people go by many different things to try to guess what stock is going to be hot and what stock is not. Some people, like me (maybe because I’m older and like to hold things in my hands) like precious metals. Do you know how much gold went upto a few weeks ago? Holy cow. I wish that I owned losts and losts of gold.

The first advice I got is to invest in companies you know and maybe even use their products. Also, don’t buy on news you read as the market is way ahead of the news and you will be late for the early show if you try to buy on news flashes.

The second advice is to avoid the big name tech companies with great new products. It will be a long time before they turn a profit on the new gadgets with huge up front expenses to get back. Instead buy into the companies that supply them with goods and services. So instead of heading into the gold rush, buy into the companies that sell the picks and shovels to the miners sort of speak. They are the companies with no R&D expense to recoup on the latest and greatest technology.

Personally I would find a broker you can trust and use their advice.

It is just trust and a learning experience. Good advice @Cruiser.

After doing a lot of research and planning, you might be ready to invest in stocks, bonds, or other investment opportunity. You won’t know until you do the study required to assess your goals.

Pharmecueticals, communications and natural gas are always a pretty good bet.

I cashed out on a bunch of AT&T stock a few years ago before the recession and I made out handsomely. :-)

Also, the pet industries, PetSmart, PetCo, Purina, etc. Good luck…have fun!

@marinelife Has it on this one Kate.

Google for exchange traded SPY shares.